Choosing A University

Choosing which universities to apply to can be a difficult task, with over 150 institutions across the UK and only five places allowed on your UCAS form.

Here we break down the factors that are worth taking into consideration when making your university shortlist. If you're applying to university in the U.S, check out our Choosing The Right College section.

1. Location

Unless you already four or five specific universities in mind, location is a good way of starting to create a shortlist. Research the local environment of each university that interests you, and decide if it’s the sort of community you can see yourself living in over the next few years.

Think about how far away from home you want to be (remember, the further away you are the more costly it will be to visit at the weekends or during holidays!), and whether you want to be in a bustling city or a quieter, more rural location.

2. League Tables

You can look at university ratings in the Guardian, which allows you to filter institutions by subject. So if you’ve already decided which degree course you want to do, you can see which are the best universities to attend for studying that particular subject.

This will allow you to see how well a particular university is doing in comparison to others by recording marks for research quality, student satisfaction, entry standard, completion, plus other important aspects.

A higher placing in the table generally means facilities, grades and teaching standards are better. A higher ranking usually also means more student satisfaction, better career prospects and more money spent per student.

However, remember that going to a university higher up in the league tables does not automatically mean you will achieve better grades – whilst the quality of the teaching, etc. may be better than other universities, it is down to the individual student how well they perform during the course.

Unistats.com is a useful website that allows you to research subjects and universities before deciding where to apply to.

Here you can compare subjects, compare universities and colleges, look at student satisfaction ratings and find out the figures for getting a graduate job after completing a course.

Unistats also has the results of the National Student Survey and some statistical information on universities, colleges, subjects and teaching style.

3. Student support and services

Check whether the university offers all the necessary support to students to maintain their well-being – this includes careers advice, a personal tutor system, counselling, a safety bus, and a union society.

You'll need a decent support network throughout your time at university if you're going to complete your studies successfully, and achieve your best possible grade.

4. Social life

The social side of university is a very important part of student life, so it’s important to make sure the range of social, sports and cultural activities and clubs offered by the university match your requirements.

Taking a degree isn’t all about studying – you need to balance your life as a student with some fun!

It may take you a little while to find the right balance between working and socialising, but you will find your feet eventually.

5. Friends

Some students let their friend’s choice of university influence their own decision on which institution to attend.

Whilst you may feel better having the security and comfort of your friends around you, it also reduces the chances of you striking up new friendships.

This could isolate you from the main crowd, which you don’t really want if you’re going to be studying with these people for three years.

Even if you go to the same university as your friends, you may actually find that you won’t see them very much if they are taking a different course and therefore have a different timetable.

6. Open Days

You can also visit the universities you are thinking of applying to by going to one of their open days.

These will be advertised on their website, and will allow you to get the feel of a place by going on a tour with one of the attending students, as well as offering you the opportunity to ask questions about the social environment, facilities, and any other aspects you wish to know more details on.

Don’t forget to contact the university for a prospectus, or grab a copy on the open day, as this will have information on courses and the institution in general.

Making a decision

Having already decided the course you want to do will make narrowing down a university to attend easier.

If you are still uncertain what course you will be taking, it is worthwhile checking out the teaching quality, facilities and social aspects of universities and compare them to try and pinpoint some specific areas where you would be interested in attending university.

Looking at the factors above, it’s important to realise that you should consider many things when choosing your university – there’s no point making a decision based on one or two characteristics, as you are likely to find it doesn’t meet all your needs.

Each university is unique, although won’t appeal to every prospective undergraduate – it may take a bit of research, but hopefully you will find a university that attracts you more than others, and you will know this is the right one for you.